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Cairo, 17 December 2012 –
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed facility
agreements to provide almost 55 million Euros to three firms for
equipment procurement and
to enhance cocoa beans processing capacities as part of the Bank's
programme to support value-additive activities to move Africa away from
remaining an exporter of raw produce.

In separate ceremonies
at the Afreximbank Headquarters in Cairo, the Bank signed a 10
million-Euro facility agreement with Societe d’Usinage et de
Conditionnement du Sud-Ouest (SUCSO) of Cote d'Ivoire on 13 December
2012; a 25 million-Euro facility agreement with Societe Nouvelle de
Commerce Guinee (SONOCO) of Guinea on 14 December; and an 18.9
million-Euro facility agreement with Conditionnement de Cacao et Cafe
S.A. Cote d’Ivoire (CONDICAF) of Cote d'Ivoire, also on
14 December.

The facility agreement
with SUCSO is a dual-tranche export receivables-backed facility under
which Afreximbank would, in Tranche I, provide up to 3.2 million Euro to
enable SUCSO finance upgrades and undertake
new investments to complete the setting up of two additional processing
lines for the production of cocoa butter and cocoa cake, and, in
Tranche II, finance procurement of cocoa beans by SUCSO for the
2012/2013 season for processing into cocoa products for
export.

In the case of SONOCO,
the 25 million-Euro facility will be used to purchase a flour mill
plant to help the company to expand its business by producing flour
locally instead
of importing from outside.

CONDICAF will use the 18.9 million Euros it is being provided under the facility agreement to
refinance existing indebtedness, purchase a cocoa processing plant and
to purchase cocoa beans.

Afreximbank President
Jean Louis Ekra said that the facilities to SUCSO and CONDICAF were
being extended under the African Cocoa Initiative through which the Bank
is supporting value-additive activities in the
cocoa sector to move Africa away from an exporter of raw beans to an
exporter of cocoa products, including raw materials for the chocolate
and beverage sectors. The facility to SONOCO was within the framework of
the Bank's programme to diversify Africa's export,
import and production, added Mr. Ekra.

“The development impact
of increased value addition is consistent with the Bank’s mission of
facilitating diversification of African trade by market and products,
and fostering value added exports and industrialization
of the African continent,” said the President.

Martial Yace, President
of SUCSO, said that the firm planned to use the facility to install
functional equipment to enable it to effectively raise its processing of
cocoa beans to produce between 22,000 metric
tonnes and 30,000 metric tonnes of cocoa products.

He welcomed the
collaborative support which SUCSO had enjoyed from Afreximbank, saying
that the Bank’s progressive role in support of Africa’s
industrialization could not be contested.

Mamadou Saliou Diallo,
Chief Executive Officer of SONOCO, said that provision of the facility
by Afreximbank represented a clear example of how the Bank was working
for Africa, particularly in the light of the
difficulties African businesses were encountering in accessing
financing from major international financial institutions.

Frederic Metch, Managing
Director of CONDICAF, said that with the new facility, his company
could proceed with confidence in its expansion programme to raise
production from 15,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes. Its
technical partner, Transmar, was providing it with technical assistance
and had guaranteed uptake of the processed cocoa products.

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About Afreximbank:

The
African Export Import Bank was established in October 1993 by African
governments, African private and institutional investors, and
non-African investors to finance and promote intra-
and extra-African trade. Its two basic constitutive documents are the
Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international
organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and
operations. AFREXIMBANK is headquartered
in Cairo. For more information, visit:www.afreximbank.com

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Broadcasting Journalist,PR,Communications, Producer and Presentor specialising in showcasing Africa to the world.I research the best of Africa and present it to the world

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